While there are places in the far West where it's possible to mount such drives, they're not all that productive on many types of terrain Western hunters face, especially on public lands.

That doesn't mean the theory won't work. In fact, it works phenomenally well -- you just have to adjust the mode of execution. Whether you're hunting alone or with others, strive to push running birds toward "natural blockers," such as open ground or, better yet, water. Even a dirt road will do. Regardless of the type of cover hunted, the idea is to make birds run into places where they run out of cover. They will then have to flush, hopefully within gun range, or sit tight, in which case a good bird dog or a hunter's approaching footsteps sends it into the air.

DEALING WITH FROZEN-STATUE BIRDS
For super tight-holding birds, which sometimes burrow deep into cover that would stall a tank, some hunters resort to unorthodox measures. A pal of mine once owned a beagle named Oscar who specialized in working deep-cover pheasants. Oscar, who has since regrettably gone to that happy scent trail in the sky, never met a brush pile or tangled thicket he wasn't overjoyed to dive into head first when he smelled a bird. I'm talking about stuff so thick that Brittanies and shorthairs look at you with that, "No way, boss," expression, and attempt to stare the birds out of the brush.

Birds that wouldn't budge for those dogs, or couldn't be found by them under dry, poor-scent conditions, didn't hesitate to budge for Oscar. One look at that rapidly approaching vacuum-cleaner beagle nose was all it took to make them launch into the air like anti-ballistic missiles. The primary requirement for success was to be in the general vicinity of Oscar when he found birds. Beagles aren't generally noted for their willingness to hunt close, follow commands with religious zeal or resist the temptation to do a little freelance hunting of their own.

For those of us too tradition-bound to attempt bird hunting with a beagle, there are, thankfully, other options for dealing with tight-holding birds. It pays, for example, to make repeated passes through thick cover you suspect is holding birds, especially if the hunting party is small and the cover substantial. It's quite common to flush a bird in a particular location, and then flush another from practically the same spot while passing through the same area later in the day.

One of the best tricks involves little more than the generous application of a booted foot to the brush or vegetation in which a bird may be hiding.

Over the last couple of seasons I've begun hunting at a preserve near my home that has very thick, abundant natural cover. The preserve-raised birds will, at times, hold tighter than a drum. The standard technique for working these birds is to first urge your dog to break point and flush the bird. When that fails, as it often does, we simply wade into the brush and give it a good kick. That usually produces the desired result -- an explosive, in-your-face flush that can unnerve even experienced hunters.

Under these conditions, it's best to go with an open choke, such as improved cylinder for autos or pumps, and improved cylinder and modified for double-barreled guns. The natural temptation is to shoot quickly in reaction to the flush, and many novices make the mistake of focusing on pheasant's long tail, shooting where the bird was rather than where it should be when the shot charge arrives. The only cure is to force yourself to let the pheasant open the range a bit before shooting, and develop the habit of leading the head rather than the body of the bird.